Rating: 
Summary: Almost as good as the first
Review: Jennifer Lauck continues her amazing story with "Still Waters", the sequel to "Blackbird". While this is an excellent book, it isn't as interesting as the first, but it's still worth reading!
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal!!!
Review: Jennifer Lauck is an extraordinary author!!! Her books are so well written that you feel like she is sitting right next to you with a cup of coffee sharing her life story with you. I have read both Blackbird and Still Waters and I could not put them down. There were times when I was laughing out loud and then I would literally have stop reading because I could not see through my tears. These books will make you laugh and cry, but most of all they will make you proud of Jennifer and all that she has overcome in her life. You will become her cheerleader supporting her page after page as each adult in her life fails her. Jennifer is such a wonderful writer that I hope we haven't heard the last of her!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Sorting through the past in order to build a future
Review: Jennifer Lauck is back with the well anticipated follow-up to Blackbird, the moving memoir describing her horrendous childhood after the death of both her mother and father. Plagued with questions after reading Blackbird, I was pleased to find many of them now answered. How does one recover from a childhood filled with grief and heartache? Is it possible for someone in Lauck's position to trust another human being at some point? Where does one look for guidance when there is no support in your immediate family? Armed with her experience as an investigative reporter and a burning desire to find out where she has been, and where she is going, Lauck answered most of my questions in her own special way. With an unquestionable talent of describing everyday life, Lauck's Still Waters is a truly inspiring testament for survivors everywhere.
Rating: 
Summary: When life is stormy; sunshine will come to you soon
Review: Jennifer Lauck tells a story that most readers will understand or do not want to understand. You can see the tale of young Jenny's life in two ways. In one way, she was a person trying to find the truth through a world of lies and family coverup. Or, maybe was just another kid going through the motions when your being bounced around and treated like a slave by grownups who lack responsibility. My only problem with the book was that I wish I could have found out what had happened to the aunt and uncle who adopted her and their daughter who got a better life than Jenny.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: Just finished reading this, and I've got to say Lauck unblinkingly shares her life, and shows what an autobiography can be. I don't usually read autobiographies, but something about Lauck's story grabbed me. She shows true insight into herself and others. Occasionally I felt she (or her younger self) missed some possible insight, but that only served to emphasize that she reveals herself so clearly as to give readers a chance to truly know her, and thus reach their own conclusions. Is this great literature? No. Is this a great story? Absolutely. And that is what most readers want. I can hardly wait to "go back in time" and read "Blackbird" (her story of her younger life).
Rating:
Summary: Time, Search, Awakening
Review: Still Water is a quick, easy read like Blackbird. Blackbird is the better of the two books, although I couldn't wait to read the sequel. The lesson of Blackbird for me was the power of a dying mother's love from which Jennifer's was able to draw strength to carry her through horrible circumstances. The lesson of the Still Water is the real damage of lies, no matter how innocuous they may have seemed at the time. Both books made me cry, although the first part of Still Water was reasonably uneventful. Jennifer managed to have quite a normal adolescence, after her tragic first years. The book picked up during the last 150 pages, as many mysteries become unravelled. Many years of her life are not covered, because the ability to face the past only came when she was ready for it. There is a powerful zinger at the end -- which gives the book its true meaning. The ending leaves hope for Jennifer to continue the healing process and forgive her adoptive parents who were well meaning, but flawed people like most of us.
Rating:
Summary: What happens to the author of Blackbird as she grows up.
Review: Still Waters by Jennifer Lauck is the sequel to the account she wrote in her previously published book Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found. After reading Blackbird, like many other readers who were so mesmerized by the first book, I could hardly wait to learn more about the next part of Lauck's life. While I enjoyed (if that word can be used), Blackbird, I found Still Waters even more riveting and ultimately inspiring. Jennifer now 12 and orphaned for a number of years is "rescued" by her grandparents. The years before had been very unkind to Jennifer and her older brother as they watched their mother die, their father remarry and then suddenly when he died they were left with a cruel stepmother. Either they never told any other family members about how they were treated or nobody bothered listening because time an again they were subjected to various forms of abuse. Blackbird leaves off as Jennifer is put on a bus, the destination of which is her grandparents home in Nevada. As Still Waters begins one hopes that Jennifer and her brother find love and kindness with family members. But this is not to be the case. They are once again separated with Jennifer going to leave with her paternal father's youngest sister, husband and small baby while her brother goes to live with an uncle in another state. We now see Jennifer as she begins adolescense, attends high school and begins dating young men. We follow her as she tries to pleasee her aunt and uncle, stay out of trouble and be helpful. But no matter what she does, she seems to always be in trouble and pay a dear price for her failings. While a Senior in high school eager to attend college Jennifer is told that there is no money for this. That she'll simply have to go ou to work. But Jennifer fully realizing that her aunt and uncle promised to save her money from the government almost blackmails them to give her part of the tuition. Now she is able to move out, rent an aprtment and pay her portion of school by maintinaing all sorts of part time jobs. We watch as once again tragedy strikes her world although in spite of all that has happened to her, Jennifer sets her sights on her goals and nothing can dissuade her from reacing them. And then finally we find her at a rewarding job, finding herself in love, marrying and then giving birth to her own child. Again as she did in Blackbird:A Childhood Lost and Found, Jennifer deals with emotional and physical abuse, a loss of innocence and finally a search to find out what really happened to her brother who she had little communication with over the years. This is a powerful book filled with gut wrenching scenes that make you want to find Jennifer, hug her and make up to her for all the years she spent as a child mired with abusive family members. It also raises all sorts of questions about raising your own children or family member's children if circumstances dictate this. I highly recommend reading both Blackbird and Still Waters. I'm sure you will always think of Jennifer Lauck as a survivor the way I do.
Rating:
Summary: What happens to the author of Blackbird as she grows up.
Review: Still Waters by Jennifer Lauck is the sequel to the account she wrote in her previously published book Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found. After reading Blackbird, like many other readers who were so mesmerized by the first book, I could hardly wait to learn more about the next part of Lauck's life. While I enjoyed (if that word can be used), Blackbird, I found Still Waters even more riveting and ultimately inspiring. Jennifer now 12 and orphaned for a number of years is "rescued" by her grandparents. The years before had been very unkind to Jennifer and her older brother as they watched their mother die, their father remarry and then suddenly when he died they were left with a cruel stepmother. Either they never told any other family members about how they were treated or nobody bothered listening because time an again they were subjected to various forms of abuse. Blackbird leaves off as Jennifer is put on a bus, the destination of which is her grandparents home in Nevada. As Still Waters begins one hopes that Jennifer and her brother find love and kindness with family members. But this is not to be the case. They are once again separated with Jennifer going to leave with her paternal father's youngest sister, husband and small baby while her brother goes to live with an uncle in another state. We now see Jennifer as she begins adolescense, attends high school and begins dating young men. We follow her as she tries to pleasee her aunt and uncle, stay out of trouble and be helpful. But no matter what she does, she seems to always be in trouble and pay a dear price for her failings. While a Senior in high school eager to attend college Jennifer is told that there is no money for this. That she'll simply have to go ou to work. But Jennifer fully realizing that her aunt and uncle promised to save her money from the government almost blackmails them to give her part of the tuition. Now she is able to move out, rent an aprtment and pay her portion of school by maintinaing all sorts of part time jobs. We watch as once again tragedy strikes her world although in spite of all that has happened to her, Jennifer sets her sights on her goals and nothing can dissuade her from reacing them. And then finally we find her at a rewarding job, finding herself in love, marrying and then giving birth to her own child. Again as she did in Blackbird:A Childhood Lost and Found, Jennifer deals with emotional and physical abuse, a loss of innocence and finally a search to find out what really happened to her brother who she had little communication with over the years. This is a powerful book filled with gut wrenching scenes that make you want to find Jennifer, hug her and make up to her for all the years she spent as a child mired with abusive family members. It also raises all sorts of questions about raising your own children or family member's children if circumstances dictate this. I highly recommend reading both Blackbird and Still Waters. I'm sure you will always think of Jennifer Lauck as a survivor the way I do.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and self absorbed
Review: Still Waters by Tami Hoag is such a suspense novel. With romance and mystery tied in together, this is one awesome novel. The setting takes place in a small tourist attracted town that includes the Amish community. When Elizabeth Stuart divorces from a rich and powerful man and moves to a small, confined town, the residents begin to gossip about rumors that concern her. When a murder occurs shortly after Elizabeth arrives in town, all the townspeople suspect her. They are shocked at the real murderer though, and his reasons behind it. Once you begin reading this novel, it is so hard to put it down. All 400 and something pages is magnificant writing and yet another show of Tami Hoag's fantastic writing style and ability. If you have not yet read one of her works, I suggest you go out and find one that is right for you. Tami Hoag is one of the best authors I have read in a long time. Take a chance and see if you enjoy her work as much as I do. You will not be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Try to Put This one Down
Review: Still Waters by Tami Hoag is such a suspense novel. With romance and mystery tied in together, this is one awesome novel. The setting takes place in a small tourist attracted town that includes the Amish community. When Elizabeth Stuart divorces from a rich and powerful man and moves to a small, confined town, the residents begin to gossip about rumors that concern her. When a murder occurs shortly after Elizabeth arrives in town, all the townspeople suspect her. They are shocked at the real murderer though, and his reasons behind it. Once you begin reading this novel, it is so hard to put it down. All 400 and something pages is magnificant writing and yet another show of Tami Hoag's fantastic writing style and ability. If you have not yet read one of her works, I suggest you go out and find one that is right for you. Tami Hoag is one of the best authors I have read in a long time. Take a chance and see if you enjoy her work as much as I do. You will not be disappointed!
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